Nifty News

Faithful Followers

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

As I combed Brooklyn's hair this morning, I noticed that it seemed shorter. The more I looked at it, the more I realized it was a lot shorter. All her curls in the back were gone. I asked the kids, "Did you one of you guys give Brooklyn a haircut?" They all insisted they had not.

"Seriously, one of you guys gave her a trim. Who's lying to me?" I demanded, getting angrier that not only had someone cut my baby's curls, but that someone was lying to me about it. I stared at Lexi and Clayton, looking for some sign that they were lying to me. Duh! I'll just ask Brooklyn who cut her hair! "Who gave you a haircut, Brooklyn?"

"Claypunk did it."

I gave Clay the evil eye.

"Ok, I cut her hair, but just a little bit."

Ha! A good 5 inches were taken off the back! I'm so sad because her curls are gone and apparently Clay did this yesterday and threw the hair in the garbage which has since been dumped. I can't even put the little curls in an envelope to save so I can look at them one day and say, "Hmmm, here's some hair. I wonder why I saved it. I wonder which kid this was from."

A little later, I took Lexi to get a haircut. She'd decided that she wanted it trimmed and I thought it would be a good idea to take her today. You know, break up the day; get out of the house; distract the kids from fighting with each other for a few minutes. So we walk into the shop and Jackson says he wants a haircut too. Jackson just got a haircut less than a week ago! He insisted that he didn't get enough cut and wanted it shorter. Oh yes, I'd love to pay for another haircut because you can't make up your mind.

So we checked in and sat down to wait our turn. Brooklyn saw a container of suckers on the counter and made a bee line for them.

"I want one!" came her wail as she stood on her tip toes trying to reach the suckers.

"Be a good girl and you can have one after Lexi gets her hair cut," was my calm, matter-of-fact answer. However, all anyone heard was, "Be a good girl..." before my words were cut off by screaming of epic proportions. Brooklyn threw herself down on the floor and continued to cry as if someone was kicking her. Yep, that's a perfectly normal, justified reaction, don't you think?

A couple of young adults looked on in horror. A couple of gentleman looked on in horror. I looked on and wondered if there's a boarding school for temperamental 2 year olds somewhere in the world because I'm willing to sell my house and live in a cardboard box in order to afford such a place for her.

I picked her limp, screaming little body off the floor while trying to pin her arms and legs. I dodged her flailing limbs as I attempted to sit down without being kicked in the face. Meanwhile, Clay is walking around the desk and giving me a challenging look; a look that says he's going to push the envelope until I lose it. I'm thinking - it's no big deal that he's walking around the shop. He's just walking around. He isn't getting in anyone's way. No big deal. Lexi has other ideas though. She takes off after Clay to try to get him to sit down. This makes him squeal and take off in a makeshift game of tag. Ugh.

I catch Clay's arm and pull him over by me. The problem is - I had to let go of Brooklyn in order to get Clay. So, Brooklyn runs back over to the suckers and screams even louder, frustrated that they're just out of her reach. I walk back over to the counter, grab Brooklyn. Again. And try to distract her by saying, "Is that Papa?!" while looking out the window into the parking lot. It worked for 4/10ths of a second at which point she yelled, "That's not my Papa!" and started crying even louder. Now, if my other kids had teased her like that, I would've yelled at them. "Don't tease her! You're just making things worse!" But there I was, telling her that her Papa was outside. I didn't have time to dwell on my inequitable rules as Clay was jumping up and knocking baseball caps off a rack high on the wall. I picked up the hats with one hand, while grabbing Clay's arm with the other.

While all this is going on, I'm aware that people are staring at us. I can only imagine what they're thinking. I deliberately avoid eye contact.

Clay takes off again, shoots me a challenging look, and starts walking around the waiting area. Only this time, he adds the element of kicking his shoe off every few steps. I see his shoe flying through the air out of the corner of my eye as I wrestle Brooklyn into a chair and call to Clay, "That's one. That's two..."

Clay stops and starts to walk toward me, but again Lexi, trying to be helpful, tries to catch him which sends him screaming through the shop.

70 comments:

That's so sad! My daughter (then four-year-old) cut off ALL of her own hair once(to the scalp!), and then cut off her little sister's cute curls. It was so sad. They both looked like boys for almost a year. It was terrible. Luckily, she was nice enough to save it in a completely full quart-sized zip-loc bag "for my scrapbook", she said. So, I do have the curls in an envelope in her scrapbook. Fun times.

Oh my goodness! That is exactly why I don't take my 4 boys anywhere if I can help it! It's like we lead parallel lives! I must say, though, you handled the whole situation so well, good for you! I would have been freaking out at them the whole way home, but that's just me. Better than storing up all that pent up rage and all that! Jana

Oh, man, sounds like the time we took Jimmy to a place in the local mall and he was screaming so loud at getting his hair cut, people came over to see what all the noise was, and were surprised that it was a little boy getting his hair cut, not being murdered, as it sounded echoing through the mall.I want to go to Sonic, but its going to be a zoo. I tried to convince hubby to go because you were. Didn't work, have some tots for me.

I feel your pain. The last two days in a row, I have had to pick up my 2 1/2 year old kicking and screaming from a store. Today was from Target, because she wanted something and I said NO! So she screamed over and over again and everyone was looking at us. One older man was looking at us and I said to him, "do you want her"?? And just walked away!You just have to laugh cause you will cry if you don't!

I am so sorry for your baby's curls, and the terribleness that was your children's behavior. One day you'll look back at this and laugh.... hopefully. Hopefully the mother's curse will take hold, and they will have a kid JUST LIKE THEM. Then YOU will get the last laugh.... BWHAHHAHAHA

I would laugh with a been there done that but I feel too bad for you to laugh. I don't think it's funny when it happens to me. I wouldn't have made it as long as you did. I've missed doctor appointments for pure embarrassment of my kids doing this in a waiting room. I'm sure you weren't laughing then but it's so great how it just turns into a funny story for your blog. I seriously need to consider doing one for therapy alone even if no one reads it.

About the hair cut..at least it was a kid, which is also funny later on. My first baby got his first hair cut from my mother-in-law (butchered I might add) without my permission while my newborn (2nd child) was sick in the hospital. She brings him home and hands me the envelope of his hair. She cut his baby curls off at 17 months old. Yeah, it's been 7 years and I still don't think it's a funny story but its not like it matters anymore.

Oh I feel for you! We have been going through the same thing here, except we moved to Costa Rica and live close to my sister-in-law without kids and of course, all the answers to how we "should" be raising our kids. :)Gotta love it!

Where is the picture of Brooklyn and her new "do"? ? ? ? I had a situation with my 2yo about 4-5 months ago where two of my older children were using a dirt devil broom, removed the canister part to empty it while the other one decided to use the other part as a sword, turned it on and my poor little 2yo got in the cross-fire and her hair got intwined in the motor of the broom and I HAD to cut it off. . . .I was REALLY ticked off at that one!

I'm right there with ya, sister. My three are mightmares in public. I have done the exact same thing. Picked up and gone somewhere, only to drive directly back home. Nothing bought, nothing accomplished, nothing but gas wasted and mom's blood pressure dangerously high for the next 3 hours. yep. almost daily.

Don't you love when kids get their little grubby paws on the scissors? About a month ago, my 5 year old was watching my 16 year old buzz his own hair. He does this every 2 weeks. Preston decided he wanted his buzzed like his big brothers. Fine. Go ahead and cut it. Have fun getting him to sit still. The little guy sat perfectly still for him! I was shocked and a little mad because when I cut it, he acts like I'm trying to murder him. God only knows what the neighbors think...lol. Well, it didn't end there. Dylan left the clippers out while he fetched the broom......big mistake. Preston decided he needed to play with the clippers and chopped the top....literally chopped it. It was all ragged and uneven. He placed the clippers on his head the moved them to another spot. Well, I couldn't fix it without shaving him bald. My husband finally fixed it today. We had to wait until it was all long enough. I just kept hoping any time were were out in public that people were smart enough to realize that HE did it, not me...lol. School starts next Tuesday, so I'm just happy it grew out before then. Now...if I could only get my oldest son to cut his. ;)

I can SOOO sympathize with you! But, my 2-year-old likes to hit, pinch, bite, etc. Plus, in the car he throws his shoes! Summer was okay with sandals, but we just bought him a new pair of tennis shoes this weekend, one of which hit me in the back of the head earlier today on the way to the grocery store! If you find a place that will take Brooklyn, let me know! Thanks for the laughs!!

I am so glad I am not the only one who as children that misbehave like that in public. I can see that scene so clearly in my mind, only with my 6 children instead of yours. (Except my my 2 year old lets the 3 year old handle the tantrums while she does the velcro act - sticks to me like she's afraid I will leave her behind.)

You sound like your having the same problems with your two year old that I'm having with my twenty month old. I sometimes wonder what goes through their little minds. Mine's not even two yet. Oh how I dread when that happens. Maybe she will be over the tantrums by then and we will have smooth sailing...NOT!! LOL!! Good luck.

I had conversation about this type of thing the other day. What does it take to just pick up and leave when stuff like this happens when you know it means you are going to have to come back.

We have the problem at the library. My 2 1/2 year old never wants to leave and likes to shriek this to everyone in a 10 mile radius. I know I should just put down the books and everything and leave, but it just means I'd have to come back .

I was wondering too - does your Wonder Woman cape ever get caught in the doors?

My hair stylist told me that my kids are known as the "really good kids" that go into the salon. You really should just say "shoot me now!" when they say something like that. I HAD to take all 3 with me when getting my hair cut. They were loud and running around the salon since my 19 month old wouldn't stay sit and of course the proper thing to do is chase him (at least in the minds of a 5 and 7 year old).

Anyway, I hear you!

On another note - I had to take my 5 year old back into the grocery store today because when Mom says "no gum" that means go ahead and steal a pack. AHHH! Thankfully the lady at customer service didn't say "it's okay" when he started crying. Nothing worse than when a teachable moment goes awry because the lady next to you can't handle kid tears!

I was feeling bad the other day that we haven't done more this summer. Then I realized why. Hmmmm...let's see....the kids are playing in the backyard- granted they're up to no good, but at least it's my yard....I don't want to torture them or myself by attempting to take them anywhere. As a result, I went grocery shopping on Saturday for the first time in three months.

Oh, and a little trick I discovered....if I count backwards...5...4...3...2..1....it is for some reason more effective on my kids than the traditional 1-2-3. Maybe because there is nothing that comes after 0, and they don't want to find out what will happen when I do.....of course if I had a kid who likes rockets or space stuff, it probably wouldn't work, 'cuz then he'd just take off into some other realm...and I wouldn't want to see that.

Love it when you make me laugh! And make my life seem a little more sane (a 3 year old and 6 month old twins make me insane most days).I have an unrelated question. I just started a blog, the intent to keep family and friends up to date on our life these days. I decided to make it a public site to make things easier - no one has to "sign-in". I have all the security settings on the highest except for the fact that it's public. I hesitated slightly at making it public since there are pictures and descriptions of my kids all over it. So I'm wondering, since your blog is very well read, do you ever feel like you're living in a fishbowl hoping no creeps are looking in? Do you do anything extra/special in the name of safety?Jenni

What a great story this is, Dawn! I'm sorry for all you had to go through to get the story, but still, it was a great read! I was at a sports themed "salon" yesterday with my 2 kiddos! (I'm assuming from Clay knocking baseball caps off the wall that you were, too.) The way Lexi would run after Clay to try and get him to behave and Clay just squealing and enjoying the chase reminds me SO much of my 7-yr-old daughter and 4-yr-old son!

' I can't even put the little curls in an envelope to save so I can look at them one day and say, "Hmmm, here's some hair. I wonder why I saved it. I wonder which kid this was from." '

Just wondered if Clay had to pay any consequences for the hair cutting? I cut my own hair when I was about 3 to make myself pretty for my oldest sisters wedding. It was not a pretty hair cut. Mama said Jean would cry awhile, then spank me, then cry awhile and then spank me again. Needless to say, I never cut my own hair again. She had to cut it all off about an inch long all over to get it even. Fortunately, I have naturally curly hair and it was just curls all over my head by wedding time. My 3 daughters were never allowed to touch the scissors in our house, except for little plastic ones that would hardly cut hot butter. You must be a glutton for punishment taking all of them anywhere by yourself. I guess taking the offending one to the car for some behavior modification is out of the question in this day and age. It sure worked in my day. I was never traumatized by it and neither were my girls. They all turned out wonderfully. Good luck. I'll be praying for you.Sudee in Florida

Dawn, I have so been there. Infact I feel like I have a passport fully stamped of being there. Tomorrow my kids start school. It will be just me and my four year old boy. Now most people would be excited about this and I am. But a couple of weeks ago I decided to invite other Moms to my house for a potluck brunch, to celebrate! Bad Idea!! Very Bad Idea!! My house looks horrible and it always does by the end of the summer. I am making cinnamon rolls right now and it's Midnight here. I got a headcold last week. You know, the one you had when the kids started puking in your bed. The cold, that just takes you out and the doctor says it's just viral and it will go away in 10 14 days. (yeah, tha's comforting! He has no idea the damage my kids can do in 2 hours let alone 10-14 days!) So here I sit waiting for those rolls to rise with a bowling ball sitting on my shoulders and I have to get my Jr. High schooler off in the morning, so I am debating if I should even go to bed. Because waking up feels horrible. Sorry, I meant relate. Not to vent. When do your kids start school?

My oldest did this to me once in Wal-Mart in the check out line. I'm from the South where we call it "pitchin' a Hissy Fit". I mean people were coming out of their respective lines to see what ill had come over that poor child. She was screaming for a candy bar. I was mortified. I politely samiled and said okay darlin' I'll get it for you and handed it to the check out lady, which IMMEDIATELY hushed her up. She was gleaming with pride over that candy bar. I paid for it and proceeded to the car where I Strapped her in her car seat, started down the road, and THREW that candy bar straight out the window and told her throwing a fit like that would get her ZERO, No DICE, NOTHING. You didn't really think I was gonna reward that kinda behavior did you? They don't do this crap at home, so they know what they can get away with. Well from that point on, any time she has started to "pitch" a fit in the store for something, I give an evil smile, and say "do you really think this is going to get you something?" and it works EVERY time.

WOW! My daughters did haircuts today too! Not only did my daughters cut hair today but they didn't even bother to clean up the evidence and left hair EVERYWHERE! I am STILL cleaning up hair! My 3 yr olds beautiful curls got chopped off above the ears. bleh. I'm glad to know I wasn't the only one dealing with this today!

Talk about hair drama! I have a daughter with autism who wants to have very short hair "like a boy" but at the same time would like to braid it. She'd grow it then cut it herself when she's frustrated. The result -- a head with bald patches! Fortunately, hair grows back. What if it doesn't? For the past five years she hasn't gone out without wearing a hat/scarf/beanie coz of her bald patches.

Oh Dawn, I am so sorry for your baby's curls! I had a similar "hair cutting" incident as well a few months ago with the same lying about it as well. How did you handle that issue? I have a 10-yr-old son and my daughter is 15 months (just turned 1 at the time of the incident). She had JUST started to grow hair when my son decided that it would be an awesome idea to cut a HUGE chunk off the top of her head. It was so obvious that HE did it as the line was straight across, as one would get with a large pair of scissors. He then of course lied and said he did not do it and Jayden must have done it herself. There is no way she could have handled the scissors (much less reach them off of my desk), put them on top of her head, cut a large chunk off, put the scissors up, and then dispose of the hair. When that excuse failed to work he tried to tell me it has "always been like that" - yea as if I never noticed that she was missing a huge chunk of hair on the top of her head before! So we went through pics to SHOW him this is wrong as well. To THIS DAY he STILL denies it when I KNOW it was him... there are only us 3 in the house and I know I did not do it! So, again, how did you deal with the lying?

Thank goodness someone else is going through the same stuff I have to endure while out in public with kids...and I "only" have two of them! You're a mama goddess in my humble opinion!

My 3 yr old girl cut off a patch of her own hair about a month ago. She had just gotten to the point where I could pull it back into cute little ponytails and piggy tails...now she has a really short bob which still doesn't really distract from that 1 inch patch of hair sticking out on the right side of her head. Oh vey!

But you know what?? We moved last April and what do we have right next door? Two sisters that cut hair in their home. Heaven!! All I have to do is make an appointment, plop $5 in my kids' hand and send them on over...voila´!

Know what's even better?? I have a cute little wine/cheese/French foo foo shop at the end of my block which is a perfect escape when the kids are in bed and the hubby is at home after a long day of whining and temper tantrums. Wanna visit me? ;O)

LOL, my daughter (7 at the time) who has curly hair decided she needed bangs, she CHOPPED the top of her hair off, so for a while she was know as "Stefani the Chia pet"! of course she did this the day before school pictures.

I only have 2 kids but that could have been us waiting to get haircuts, complete with 2yo tantrums. Those trips usually end in us not only leaving with no haircuts, but also everyone gets mandatory naptime when we get home or face Mommy's wrath.

My kids are all in school. It is such a treata to buy groceries ALONE! It is like a day at the spa. I assume anyway. Of course, it would be a little difficult to get their haircut if you didn't take them along. Drat. Hole in my plan.

Thank you for your story! I'm like the other poster who was holding her breath until the end! I have three kids (6, 4, 2) and although this particular type of episode hasn't happened to me, the kids have had meltdowns at stores where I've just left. I'm proud of you for doing the right thing. Way to go Mom!

Seriously. I went to Wal Mart this past friday with all 5 of mine, the two youngest in the stroller. I was very, very afraid. They're usually behaved in public, but everyone has their moments and I was sure that, on this happy Friday, that I was playing with fire.

Would you belive that not only were they all well behaved, but my oldest two were more helpful than I could've asked, begged and pleaded for.

So I bought them soda AND candy in the check out line to show them that Yes, mom really does appreciate it and you can have the candy you were promised for good behavior.

(I paid for the sugar fest the rest of the day. But did I mention that we were there looking for the last of the school supplies that we needed? Along with everyone else that lives around me? The sugar fest was worth it.)

It's nice not being the only one in the world having a day like that! At my boys' open house last night at school, my girls (2 & 4) were fighting, biting, screaming, crying, falling backwards out of their chairs, losing crocs, tripping over their feet, falling all over the floor, getting into all the classroom's toys, getting into the teacher's dry-erase markers and coloring on her board, erasing her stuff, running out the door, and running around the classroom. It was like they were raised by wolves and this was their first time being introduced to civilization. On the way home they were asking if we could go to Aldi and buy snacks. Uh no thanks, I've had enough humiliation for one day. :)

Yikes! This reminded me of when my (then) babysitter decided that my (then 1.5 yr. old) daughter's bangs were too long. Without asking, she cut the bangs about an inch from her scalp! It looked terrible! Whenever I look back at those pictures I cringe. (At least Brooklyn's cut was in the back, right?) And this was a grown woman who should have known better!

Thank you. That sounds like my shopping trip to Target today, which I'm off to post on my blog. I can't complain, earlier in the day my youngest started preschool and my older two were near angels while I did some work at the church.

Okay, Kathryn, I have to ask. Your husband was home from a long day of whining and tantrums...that's a job??? people get PAID to do that??? Wow!!! sign me UP! (sorry, I just couldn't resist --- I know it was the kids having the performance issues...unless it was you after listening to and dealing with them for hours on end! Meta

Gosh, I wrote a month or so back saying it was good to know that I wasn't the only one with a 2 year old throwing tantrums..your answer to me asking for help was "duct tape over his mouth" love it!I have two boys 15 months apart..this happens EVERYTIME we go somewhere...I just cringe when my two year old starts fit throwing. I just want to tell everyone in the area, " WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING AT, HAVEN'T YOU EVER SEEN A CRAZED MOTHER TRY TO DISCIPLINE A SCREAMING TWO YEAR OLD IN PUBLIC?!" Then, I would leave feeling much better. You....rock!

It's me...I forgot to say something. Getting my 2 1/2 yr olds haircut never goes without a "sucker incident." I find myself giving him 3 or 4 suckers JUST to get through the trip with SOME sanity left. I just give in. It's easier then giving the "evil eye", it makes my eye twitch, and my whole body. I need some wine.

Some how I feel like I have been there done that...and I *only* have 3 kids...mind you instead of applause I usually catch a comment something to the effect of "why doesn't she give them what they want"!!! PULEEASE people...do they really think that is all it would take?? Once again...glad I'm not alone in this experience!

In the last 2 yrs, my youngest daughter, now 3 1/2, has had her hair cut by 2 brothers (2 different times) and she cut it herself recently. She had beautiful shoulder length curls until her brother cut it last fall.

Dawn, I hate to admit it (especially after reading the next post about the comments you got on this one), but I laughed at this one. You poor dear!

Honestly, I have SO much more sympathy for moms in public now than I did six months ago, a year ago, before I had kids.... And yep, we've walked out of places before -- Steak and Shake most recently, I believe.

Good luck with the next shot at a haircut! And wish us luck -- we're going for our school starts really soon haircuts next week. I'm hoping there are suckers in our future.

When my kids act up..and they always do..and people stare i tell them to go collect money from the folks that are staring before we go any futher into the "show" if we are putting on a show by golly we should get paid...

LOL your posts always make me feel better...like I'm not the only mom that has things like this happen to me. In fact, it happened this morning in Home Depot as I was desperately trying to grab a billion paint samples and my six, four, and one year olds were all screaming and running around. Thanks for making me feel a little more normal.

My kids are grown now, and - you'll never believe this - I laugh when I remember those public humiliations! Why, oh why do they always have to have an audience??? Just delete the comments the bad people make and don't give it a second thought. Life is too short to worry about the negative people! They obviously have NO kids, or very sad kids because ALL kids throw a tantrum or two. I look forward to your blog everyday - it brings back the memories of when my kids were small.

My oldest son (now 15) decided to give his sister a haircut when he was 4 and she was 2. I discovered it when I went to change her diaper and found a fistful of hair stuffed in there. My son thought it was hilarious (still does, for that matter) - me, not so much. I thought both kids had learned their lesson about cutting hair, but no. Two years later, my daughter decided that she wanted to "look like Katie Couric" and cut her off about 4 inches of her own hair on one side. I had to take her to my hairdresser and get all of it cut really short to try to even it out. Luckily, my youngest has never felt the need to try out his hair cutting skills on anyone...

Taking children out in public is always scary. My son, who is 8, has autism, and I can't take him amywhere! We went to Wal-Mart the other day, and as we were walking into the store, a child was throwing a temper tantrum in the parking lot. Dalton stops, stares, then yells "BABY STOP THAT YELLING!! YOUR A BIG BOY NOW, NOT A BABY!!" My face turned 3 shades of red, I, too, avoided any eye contact with the parents. So a total of 3 anda half minutes later, we are in fabrics, and can hear a baby crying in shoes. I guess you can imagion what Dalton had to say "BABY", he yelled across the store, and this time it was worse, "SHUT UP YOU BABY!!" I told Dalton that he was not being very nice, and that poor baby could have been hurt. Then I notice an elderly woman giving me a very disaproving look. I simply said "he is autistic, we think it, he says it." If he sees a person with some sort of disability, he is quick (and loud) to point it out. I usually put him in shirts that give some type of warning that he is autistic, and speaks his mind. Dalton was completely non-verbal until he was over 4 years old. I remember praying for years to hear his voice. "I don't care what he says, I just want to hear his voice", I would pray. Now my prayers are more like this "Dear God, could you please put your hand over Daltons mouth today in Wal-Mart, and I have to go to the bank also, it would be nice there too. Amen"

I've been reading your blog since the Pokemon incident but have never left a comment. Now I've been without a laptop (thank you 1.5 yr old monkey who threw it off the couch) for a week and am catching up and just had to post to this one. Actually, I should have posted one more up in response to "anonymous", but I digress. We were at an amusement park this summer when my daughter decided she needed to throw a fit. We sat down on a bench and I let her scream her little eyes out and bang her little fists. I can't even remember what started it. But what I do remember, is the lady who was sitting next to me with her 4ish yr old daughter who was just staring at my Lilly screaming. The mom told her daughter "She's ok, she's just mad and she's too young to express that in words yet. Some mommies know that it's ok to be angry sometimes and they let their kids express their anger however they know how. It's ok to be angry." My daughter stopped throwing her fit a few minutes later and started playing with the other little girl. I was just so impressed with her explanation to her daughter and that she wasn't the typical onlooker thinking I was raising a future felon. In reality, I was just too tired to scoop her up and walk away. But after hearing what that lady said it gave me a whole new perspective on parenting! It IS ok to be mad sometimes. And we can't expect toddlers who don't yet understand emotion to be able to properly deal with their feelings all the time. Tantrums will happen. I will continue to try to teach my daughter about emotions and words like "I'm mad", but I don't worry about the occasional temper tantrum anymore. So, if the Silver Dollar City lady is reading, Thank You!

My daughter is just an year old and watching her tantrums (and reading your blog), I dread visits to the malls a year hence.

And it really pains to read people judging others with limited information and then passing on 'suggestions'. Don't let these drag your down. You rock and everyone (well most of the readers anyway) know it.

Oh man!!! Dontcha just love em to death when they do that to you?? "to Death" being hte operative word at times LOLI'm also looking for boarding schools / military schools for 7 year old boys. International is fine by me - in fact that could work quite well.... let me know if you come across any :)